In particular, the invention is intended for a chain in the form of a bracelet, a necklace or the like.
Chains for jewelry articles can be made of all sorts of materials such as for example metal, plastic, leather, wood, yarn or any other suitable material whatsoever.
Charms in the form of all sorts of figures and shapes with which a bracelet is given an exclusive and distinctive look and as a result of which the bracelet distinguishes itself from an ordinary bracelet without any charms, thus making the bracelet more unique to the user, are already known. The known charms are made of stainless steel, silver, gold, or the like, and may or may not make use of precious stones, fancy glass, or wooden beads, and the like having rather small dimensions, usually having a diameter smaller than 25 mm, preferably between 5 and 20 mm. The above-mentioned charms enable the user to continuously change his/her look by selecting charms and by providing them to a bracelet, a necklace, or the like. If the user wishes to do so, several charms according to different themes, in different materials, with different ornaments, and the like can be provided to a single chain. An example of such a chain with charms has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,507, whereby the chain is provided with means to restrict the movement of the provided charms, such that the charms do not gather around a single point of the chain, but remain nicely distributed over the chain. These means can be made in all sorts of shapes and they are not only practical, but they can also confer additional character to the chain.
Charms which are fixed to the bracelet, and which are hence selected by the manufacturer and not by the user, are known as well. When manufacturing such bracelets, a new charm or a new set of charms must be made for every new type of bracelet, which leads to relatively high production costs.
Further, it is known that people wearing a bracelet around one wrist, may wear a watch around the other wrist, which is disadvantageous in that the watch cannot be matched with the bracelet. Another disadvantage is that the watch-strap cannot be easily replaced, such that it is not practical and moreover time-consuming to select a different watch-strap every day as a function of, for example, the clothes one is wearing or the activities one will carry out.